wall decal pasting at 2am

We finally finish pasting the wall decals, one word to describe the process

T-E-D-I-O-U-S! 

living area wall

bomb shelter door



 Took us 3hrs just to paste the living hall. Cuz of the lines.. Need to align them one by one. Ain't easy as it seems. I think it will look it would look better if the stickers will bigger, seems like the wall still looks a little empty. Now left only the Disney stickers. Actually he is the one doing the pasting while i gave moral support, can't help much, baby Kieran kept crying for my attention every 15 mins! Talking about crying for attention. It's a love-hate feeling. i love it because it feels good when i know he yearns for my attention and i can pacify him, but its a hate thingy when he overly seeks for my attention when i want some personal time to do my own stuffs like sitting here blogging or doing some house chores, make preparations for his full month, or simply just when I want to sleep mmmoooorrreee!



he can sleep longer like this!



Counting down to his full month this Sunday 2nd Jan! I'm feeling all excited! Lot of cleaning up to do these 2 days. -.-

"Im 23 days old"

My Christmas wish

For the first and longest time I'm free on Christmas eve! And im not feeling overly festive for the first time in my life, omg.. I hope this feeling is temporary.. usually days before christmas i'll be out shopping for christmas gifts exchange. having turkey, with nice foodies with either church mates or frens, or love ones,  last year i still remember i bought a very manly Dunhill leather belt for dearie and he bought me a very chio Miu Miu leather bag. But I can't recall where we went for dinner. Ops! Haha..
Well, FREE means I'm at home not partying with my buddies out there, but I'm not really that free! I'm home cuz I need to be confine and I need to be a "cow" at home. Lol.
But this is the first Christmas I'm spending it with my less than a month old baby and as a mommy. (sometimes I still can't believe I'm a mother already!)
My christmas wish? Very simple. I pray our coming years of parenthood journey would be great and fulfilling. Not only christmas but ALL festive seasons will be much exciting than my passed years, lastly our family will stay healthy and wealthy of love forever. Oh, am I too greedy?

"I am 21 days old!"

Just as I was complimenting and boasting about baby Kieran to my mom the other day that he was rather easy to take care I almost gone crazy for the past week. Perhaps as he is growing each day, he slowly learnt how to express his displeasure. His cries grew stronger and louder than the first week he was born. He cry when his diaper is dirty, When he is left alone in the room, when he realize mummy and daddy is not sleeping besides him, when he wants cuddle, when he is feeling all sweaty and sticky, so on and so fourth!
The most ridiculous and funniest is when he is woken up by his own sudden fart! We can't help laughing when this happens. Now I fully understand why some woman went thru postpartum depression. When babies cry at the slightest thing, sometimes unable to figure out where the problems lies, when we are feeling all exhausted due to insufficient rest, and topping it up with all the confinement woes. There u go! DEPRESSION!
Don't get me wrong peeps, I'm not complaining. Not at all. In fact I love every second spent with my baby, I can spent hours looking at him while his is asleep, watch him smiling as though dreaming of all sweets and treats. And then I will smile with him. (=

"I am 16 days old!"

1st week of parenting

So far I think we are managing quite well with our stage 1 of parenting journey. From changing diaper, bathing and feeding. I guess in no time we will be experts! Hehe. Bathing is the trickiest. Our first bath for Kieran wasn't that bad maybe cuz we attended the session on "bathing your baby" in mount A. And watching ah ma bathing Kieran..Otherwise I think it would be a disaster! We were a bit like octopus as if too many hands dunno which hand to hold which part. And the bath tub super slippery with him struggling furiously. He cried till so bitterly as if bathing was a torturing process! See le heart pain!
Yesterday was our 3rd bathing time for him, he still cries but seems more settled. Cried for awhile only. Slowly getting use to it. :) Good boy Kieran!

Daddy changing diaper for Kieran.

Put some baby powder to prevent abrasion

After Kieran bath and feed he will sleep very soundly and longer than usual for about 3-5 hours.  Perhaps after using much energy, stomach filled plus feeling comfy n fresh. We took this opportunity to trim his TINY NAILS! There were 2-3 occasions baby mittens came off and he scratched his face while crying frantically left a few red lines but lucky these scratches were superficial marks. But still pains us to see.
Oh My God! it's damn scary lor..daddy Henry carefully place the cutter, slowly concentrating and aiming, my heart will skipped fast each time I hear the "click"! No cries - means good. No tiny fingers injured. Then I do the filing to file any remaining sharp edges. Phew~ baby Kieran still on milky la la land...zZz..good job daddy Henry, Mummy Adeline! :D

afternoon nap after shower

Hubby went out to get a new set of pump yesterday as I wanted to replace it with Avent. Previously using Tommie Tippie single manual but because the rest of the milk bottles we bought were from Avent even our warmer n sterilizer. By changing it save us the hassle of transferring the milk from the pump to the bottle. I wanted a single manual but he came back with 2 in 1 manual + electric! And lots of other items! Nipple shield, breast shell, storage boxes, and few items for Kieran, a toy to train his hand grip with sound when being squeezed. Avent pacifier and a baby powder container. So nice of daddy Henry, he said electric is much convenient. The breast shell is to protect pain from engorgement, etc.. (Thank dear.. Love you!) lovely hubby cum daddy!This lovely hubby also secretly helped me boil water and brought it into our master room toielt at 12am, he mixed n prepare the pack of herbs for me to bath. My intention was to wait till both folks has gone to bed but I can't stand any longer from the stickiness of sweat! After bathing, I feel I can FLY~ no more stickiness! Lol. Thanks again dearie!

my new gadgets

Kieran new gadgets

confinement

4 Dec 2010 is the day we are going home as a FAMILY for the first time.
First car ride for Baby Kieran, hubby drove extremely slow and careful, unlike his usual driving style. The difference of having a baby in the car!
Went to pick my mom in law and granny in law at Telok blangah. They will be staying with us and helping us out during my confinement period.

Everything went well and easy for the 1st day, as baby was sleeping most of the time. Except for the many feeds he woke up and cry for. My first breast feed experience was a very pleasant and memorable one. He latched on so naturally and I felt the love of being a mother and instantly a connection was established between me and my baby. The end of delivery pain is a beginning of a series of pain...
On day 2, I experience stinging pain each time baby Kieran latched on. My nipple bleed and the skin on the nipple starts to crack and tear on day 3. That's not the worst. Received negative comments is the most discouraging, initially these comments really affects my thoughts, but I stay persistent and just believe what I'm doing is the right thing for my baby. I'm fortunate to have a very supportive hubby, without him I may have gave up this wonderful connection with our baby.
Apart from these, i got pain from my stitches, first couple of days i couldn't walk and sit properly, let alone having to endure the stinging sensation when passing urine and motion! I had tug of wars during each toilet visits because knowing passing motion needs to exert force and the stitches may tear!
As if these ain't enough, i also experience bad backaches, the exact kind of backache I had when I was into my 5th month of pregnancy.

Following the Chinese confinement method, I can't bathe, can't wash hair, and lots more.. Sometimes my head itch and stink! The trace of sweat lingers around my body the whole day. i got somewhat depressed for this. Luckily Karen bought me 10packs of herbs for me to bathe. I'm using it once every 3 days. Thanks huahua! Not that I can't go down to buy more but I bathing secretly! the pail of water were as if they were HOLY water and every drop is damn precious!

All I can say bout confinement is tough! only a week has past, still gotta endure 3 weeks..but thankfully each time I looked at our darling Kieran the pain and exhaustion simply fades away. =)

Birth Story

Before we make our way to Mount Alvernia Hospital. Dearie n me went for steamboat feast at  Bugis.
After our satisfying and filling dinner we head down straight to the hospital. Reached around 12:30am Directed to the delivery suite, the room looks very Intimidating! I was damn nervous even though I smiled to the camera. Wanna look pretty mah..haha.

Alright, I shall not describe every single details of my labour moments, it might scare some ladies who are reading this! All I can say is that I kept telling myself this is my 1st and last baby. (at that moment of pain) I was literally repeating to dearie "我不要生了!" and I even had nightmare that night I dreamt that I was in the delivery suite again, then i wake up in sweat! Lol.

Induced at 1:00am, 8 hours later Doc Don came in and said, "1.5cm" I said "what?!" so Many hours but open 1.5cm only??!! 

He then burst the water bag, waited till 12:30pm... 3cm only. 5:00pm..10cm! Finally..I can start pushing and see our precious one soon. Been waiting like years for this 10cm! Every seconds seem like an hour.

Yes I had epidural for those who are wondering. Spent $1300+ but the effect is like no kick. Maybe the pain would be worst without it.

Push! Push!! Push!!! Again...PUSH!! Almost wanted to give up, dearie was beside me holding my hands n pushing with me. Kept telling me "dear, 加油baby要出来了＂the nurses keep encouraging me as well. "要快点看到baby吗？ 要就出多点力!＂

I gave the 2 last pushes with all my strength I'm left with, and Yes! Finally we heard his cry. Very crystal clear. Carefully they place him on my tummy, i look at his face and my heart immediately melts and suddenly all the pain was gone, me and dearie was smiling from inside out.

Baby Kieran Koh was born. 3.065kg 53cm long. Extremely exhausted. 

I couldn't take my eyes off our precious one. Seeing dearie wipe him clean and hear him cry makes us so overwhelmed with happiness and joy. I dunno how I can describe it better. But I never felt anything like this before.  After the long 9 months, finally we are able to holding our baby Kieran in our arms. <3 Loves..







after cleaning..




he opened his right eye first..


 

both eyes opened. looking around curiously.

 

 

face of a happy father.

 



our 1st family photo!

felt better after medication.

changing diaper

Uncle Alex with Kieran.

Thanks everyone who came down to visit Kieran. =)

 

Last visit to Gynae link.

It's been confirmed that I'll be checking in Mount Alvernia Hospital on 2nd dec 2010. Thursday morning, 12am. 
I'm so x 100 kan chiong! Omg! Left today and Tomorrow to finalize the packing of my barang barang. 
Been getting less and lesser eye shut, most prob due to the anxieties, heartburn, baby constant kicking & rolling, the increase visit to toilet....
Dr Don said that it is common in 3rd trimester. I read on mag that its mother nature to train us for what lies ahead. Sob..  I haven seen the bright side to this problem since last week! :(
The baby cot finally arrived today! Something to cheer up about. Like it a lot. Wonder if baby likes it. :) dearie washed the bed sheet covers while I wipe the cot clean with dettol cleaner. (my favorite household item)
Met my Sis for lunch today, went last min shopping in case I miss out any items. Bought detergent for cleaning milk bottles and baby accessories. Well, almost done preparing!!! 7788 le! 

Parenthood Fair 2010

In order to avoid the after office hours crowd on Friday, we wake up as early as we could, to be exact, i didn't slept at all most probably due to the anxiety and excitement. Dearie didn't really sleep well too. we reached there around 11plus. Our first time not to expo but Parenthood fair! The first thing we bought was 3 yrs subscription of motherhood mag. Bought a few issues previously, gives a lot of info on pregnancy, and parenthood. I strongly recommend it.
No doubt our foot were sore n painful from all the walking & queuing..the trip was indeed fruitful, the photos says it all! I felt that our most triumphant items was the few bottles of free baby bath we got. Lol, sounds super CHEAPO right?! No choice, like I mentioned, having a child is expensive. Bought a few bottles of cream for stretch marks too. Im kind of paranoid, the sale girl make it sound as if I will get stretch marks all over my body after delivery IF I don't buy it. She is in the right line, very convincing sales talk, Haha, dont care la, preventive is better than cure. Anyway there's no cure to it.
And yes! We finally bought baby cot! A very tough decision, not that we have a lot of choices but we just couldn't decide one which one to get, spent like few hours considering? Yap, few hours... It's not easy okie! Need to check the safety features, material of the wood, whether is it organic, the paint they use is it safe for the baby sensitive nose, the mattress quality, how many levels can't it be adjusted, and so on....... very nice one.. White frame with printed bed sheet casing, comes with a super duper cute pillow and bolster! SOoo happy, the cot will arrived on monday, will upload photos after installation. There are a few Items we have yet to buy, such as the big bumper floor mat for baby play time but since there's no hurry and it's pretty bulky to carry hence give it miss.
We even went to take a look at Sitex fair to look for memory stick for our new video cam, Sad to say the fair don't sell Sony accessories. Never mind, we can get that easily outside. Alright, that's all!

2nd last visit to Gynae

Today may be the 2nd last check up before we meet our baby, 37+weeks now. Baby weighs bout 2.6-2.7kg now. Phew, was worried that he never pack on those extra pounds again. At least the 0.3kg gained sounds reasonable since 1 week ago.

Dr don checked my cervix for signs ready for labour, he said already dilated 1cm. He also measured the position and station of baby to my pelvis, and he said is low enough. Now that I'm 37 weeks Pregnant, technically is considered full term which means I'm ready n safe to go into labor any day from now.
Maybe baby decided to make his appearance early. Dr don suggested I admit hospital this sunday evening, by induced delivery due to some complications. My reaction was "so fast?!" I wasn't quite mentally prepared as we are expecting to see our love at probably 2 weeks later. He said "earlier is better, otherwise 夜长梦多."  dearie suggested we do a last check up on Monday and see how things goes. If the situation remains the same then we will proceed with Dr Don advice.

The thought of seeing our baby real soon makes me excited and scare at the same time, I don't seems to understand why I can go through the pain of tattoo in the past but not even injection now. Maybe "越老胆越小！" chicken 胆! anyway We finally bought the air filled cot sheet today. Couldn't decided which design n brand to get initially.
Yeap, one step closer to preparing our baby birth. Oh ya, and one very funny incident. We also just bought a new Tefal wok, our 2nd Tefal collection, dear commented that he is sad-Ed. That nowadays Kitchen wares are his new gadgets! hello uncle Henry!! Lol! =P

Woes of pregnancy.

When the news of my pregnancy is announced. Everyone congratulates me.It is definitely a joy. But this piece of joy has a price to pay!
This congratulating news comes in a package like a "hamper"!

I've unwrapped morning sickness, vomiting, rashes, backaches, leg pain, heartburn, hair loss, stretch marks, and now RASHES again?!

My whole back is covered with red raised bumps. That looks like insect bites. Sometimes it itches like hell. Everynight I hope my hormones will balance out and everything goes back to normal, but it does not seems as that is so likely. It looks so ugly, it really bothers me when I looked into the mirror. Thank God they did not appear on my face, and that's the most comforting part. There are definetly good and bad days, and all I can do is roll with the punches. Hopefully it will disappear after giving birth.

I googled and found this website they define the common types of rashes.

Rashes that only occur in pregnancy are:
1.PUPPP - (pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy)
2.herpes gestationis
3.impetigo herpetiformis
4.papular dermatitis of pregnancy
5.prurigo gestation
After reading the descriptions, I'm still clueless of which type mine belongs to. Gonna ask my gynae on the next visit.

Well, despite all the woes I'm going through I'm still thankful as
Every child is a unique and special gift from God to us!

Shopping for our bundle of joy

Just made payment for the wall decal yesterday. Can't wait to deco our baby's room! me and Henry are really looking forward to our bundle of joy arrival. Having a baby is so NOT expensive at all.
Few days ago, we bought diapers, Though The function is somewhat similar to a pad. Both are for absorbing purposes. But the price is so NOT similar! Then we bought baby's clothes washing detergent. I didn't know that we have to separate adults n infant clothes till I was told by another mommy that it's necessary. Well the detergent is also quite ex. Last item was nursing bras. It is so UNSEXY! No wonder they said that being a mother is a big big sacrifice! But I love the feeling. :) tee Hee.
We are still looking around for a nice cot. Initially we wanted a playpen, but after much consideration we felt that cot is better as it is more durable, sturdy and safe for babies, Imm is not a recommended place to shop for newborn stuffs. We are going to the expo next week for parenthood fair. Hopefully can get one that we really like.
Mr Koh is kind of fussy when comes to buying technical or I.t stuffs. He will compare the parts, the materials, the durability, the user friendliness la.. Etc... Me on the other hand go for outlook more.  As long as it looks good, pretty, cute, pink, trendy or sexy, the design n colors must attract me otherwise I won't buy it. Maybe that's the difference in man n woman? Or just me n him? Anyway it's a compliment!

Visit to Gynae Link.

In week 36 now. Baby weighs 2.3kg now.. Everything normal just that he is slightly small size. Dr Don said is norm because of my petite size. Myself weighs 49kg, no gain at all since my last visit which is 2 weeks ago?  hmmm.. Don't ask me why, I am Puzzled too. Maybe his weighing scale is faulty? I ate as per normal leh.. Next Visit 25th Nov. Now that the D-day is drawing near, the frequency of my check up is changed to once every week.

Need to pack my luggage bag soon. BYE!

TO DO list...

My TO DO list

I have a 101 to do in my list! which one to start first? Haha. Here's my top 10.

1. medi, pedi
2. dye / highlight hair ( getting sick of my 40% black n 60% brown! argh~)
3. wear my killer heels ( already bought 4 pairs, they are just sitting in the shoe cabinet waiting for my foot..)
4. drink coke
5. lash extension ( i may strike off this, still considering. haha.)
6. eat lots of oyster
7. ...............  prawns
8. ................ crabs
9. ................ sashimi (don't be surprise if i put on another 10kilos!!! muahahah..)
10. buy a gift to pamper myself!

The last one is definitely  not an excuse ok! i really feel is a MUST, to reward myself for going through the 9 months, comfort myself with all the hair loss, weight gained, stretch marks la..bla bla bla...)

stretch mark

I saw my first S-T-R-E-T-C-H mark. OMG. So pretty...

yes, im back

YES IM BACK!